Using Web 2.0 Tools

USING WEB 2.0 TOOLS

ImageSpike is a Web 2.0 tools that allows the creator to make interactive images. Students are able to tag elements of an image which can then link them to material on that subject, or act specifically as a label. Images can be shared over social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus!

Ways this site could be used in the classroom are unlimited. One example is that students could be given an assignment about anatomy. They can create an image on ImageSpike and label parts of the body. The label may then connect to information on the web about that particular biological system (ie. respiratory tract). 

This changes education because students are able to create and manage objectives in a way that directly represents what they are learning. They use technology to demonstrate how topics and materials can be connected. 

TED Ed is free a web 2.0 tool that teachers can use to build and create lessons. The hope is that students can be taught a variety of subjects, and the teacher can expand upon the knowledge by incorporating a TED video into the customized lesson. The goal of TED Ed is primarily that teachers and animators will create these educational collaborations and share them with other educators. 

The site is broken up into individual lessons, so it makes it easy to navigate. Both students and teachers can choose a video to watch, to make learning more interesting. TED Ed is a great tool for those who are visual learners, as lessons can be created beside a video. This may help reduce barriers by allowing for visual interaction, instead of direct lecture instruction. 

Anyone 13 or older can sign up and use TED Ed!

ikiMap is another free web 2.0 tool that allows users to create maps and share them over a social network. You can build your own map, or draw directly onto one available on the website. This web 2.0 tool helps you organize and publish maps quickly and efficiently, and users can link georeferences for added information. 

ikiMap could be used in the classroom to help students learn countries, capitals, landmarks and other geographical points of interest. If they needed to show how they can read an understand legends, they could create a map of their own and add specific labels to the legend (ie. roads, bridges, etc.). They can then share their work in a presentation to the class or with other students in other schools. 

This helps reduce barriers for certain learners by allowing them to share their work. Collaboration is very useful to help students see and experience new ways of presenting information. Anyone can sign up and use ikiMap for free!

Conclusion

Although I have only included three Web 2.0 Tools into this book, we can already see the way they are changing education today. The use of technology to learn, create and share ideas allows for so much more advancement in the classroom. Many students learn at different levels, and Web 2.0 Tools can help anyone succeed at any pace. It is up to us as educators to search and find these tools for our students in order to use them to their full potential. "Like the web itself, the early promise of e-learning - that of empowerment - has not been fully realized. The experience of e-learning for many has been no more than a hand-out published online, coupled with a simple multiple-choice quiz. Hardly inspiring, let alone empowering. But by using these new web services, e-learning has the potential to become far more personal, social and flexible." (Readwrite.com, 2006)

References

Readwrite.com (August 2006). e-learning 2.0 - How Web technologies are shaping education. [online]. Retrieved from http://readwrite.com/2006/08/08/e-learning_20#awesm=~oGkJjM37wDqQMf